BAGHDAD (AP) — Security forces and riot police deployed in the Iraqi capital Wednesday, blocking all roads leading to a major central square that saw violent confrontations between protesters and police a day earlier.
At least two anti-government protesters were killed and more than 200 were wounded after security forces used live ammunition and tear gas on protesters Tuesday who were calling for an end to corruption, improved basic services and more jobs. The confrontations were some of the worst in more than a year and signaled the war-weary country could be facing a new round of political instability.
Early on Wednesday, Iraqi municipal workers were seen cleaning up Tahrir Square, spraying the street with water while bulldozers removed debris. Heavily armed security forces were deployed in the area with armored personnel carriers, SUVs and dozens of riot policemen standing guard on side streets.
A few dozen protesters tried to reach Tahrir Square to resume the protests but were faced with scores of riot police in full gear who formed a human barrier and soldiers who blocked roads leading to the square from several directions, sometimes with barbed wire. At one point, security forces fired tear gas and live fire in the air to disperse the protesters.
A bridge that leads from Tahrir Square to the fortified Green Zone — home to government offices and foreign embassies — was closed in the morning.
A car was distributing water to protesters and soldiers alike. “We are not against you, you are our brothers,” one activist told a soldier as he offered him a cold bottle of water.
The protests are the most serious challenge against Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi’s government since it was formed nearly a year ago. They appear to be spontaneous and without political leadership, organized by people on social media against corruption and lack of basic services, such as electricity and water.
They included dozens of university graduates who are unable to find jobs in the corruption-plagued but oil-rich country.
The protests began peacefully Tuesday but soon turned violent after security forces fought back demonstrators with water cannon, tear gas and live ammunition. Protesters responded by calling for toppling the government, throwing stones at security forces and setting tires and trash containers on fire.
Similar protests and confrontations took place in other provinces, including in the cities of Basra and Nasiriyah in the south. In Nasiriyah, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of the capital, one protester was killed and around 20 people wounded, according to hospital officials.
A joint statement issued by the Iraqi interior and health ministries said one person was killed and 200 injured in Baghdad’s running clashes Tuesday, including 40 members of the security forces.
It said it “regretted” the violence that accompanied the protests, blaming “a group of rioters” for inciting violence, while calling for calm and restraint.
Iraq’s influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in a tweet called on government leaders to launch an investigation into Tuesday’s clashes.
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Associated Press writer Murtada Faraj in Baghdad contributed reporting.